US1228820A - Device for regulating balance-wheels. - Google Patents

Description

W. E. PORTER.

DEVICE FOR REGULATING BALANCE WHEELS.

APPLICATION FILED DEC-26.1916.

1,228,820. Patented June 5, 1917.

mt NORHIS FEYERS C0,?Nnraurnm, WASHINGYON. n c.

citizen of the United WILSON n. PORTER, on NEW HAVEN, conlvncrrou'r, '00., or new HAVEN, CONNECTICUT,

ASSIGNOR TO NEWIHAVEN CLOCK A CORPORATION.

DEVICE FOR REGULATING BALANCE-WHEELS,

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 5, 1917.

Application filed December 26, 1916. Serial No. 138,945.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILSON E. Pon'rnma States, residing-at New Haven, in the county of New Haven and State of Connecticut, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Devices for Regulating Balance-Wheels; and I do hereby declare the following, when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings and the'characters of reference marked thereon, to be a full, 'clear, and exact description of thesam'e, and which said drawings constitute part sent, in

Figure 1- a view in front elevation of a for regulat- Fig. 2 a plan view thereof.

Fig. 3 aview in vertical section on the line 33 of Fig.2 ofthe rocking balancewheel carrier'shown-as detached, and on the double scale.

Fig. 4: a broken detail transverse sectional view, on the line If-4 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 5 a detached broken detail plan vlew,

showing the means employed for frictionally holding the end 'of the hair-spring to be adjusted. 4

My invention relates to an improved device for regulating the balance-wheels of marine-clock movements and of watch movements, the objectbeing to produce, for the purpose described, a simple, accurate and compact devi'ce constructed with particular referenceitovisualizing the oscillation of the master balance-wheel and the balance-wheel to be adjustedso as to enable the oscillation of the latter to be readily compared with the oscillation of the former.

With these ends in VI lBW, my invention consists in a device for regulating the balance -wheels of clocks and watches, the said device having certain'details of construction as will be hereinafter described and pointed out in the claims.

' In carrying out my invention as herein shown, I employ a standard indicator 5 and a trial indicator 5., these two indicators being positioned to oscillate in close proximity to 'each other so as toce'ntralize, as it were, the comparison of their oscillations.

The standard indicator 5 is bent forward at a right angle from an arm or shank 6, staked upon an oscillating staff 7 having pointed pivot ends which'are journ'aled in of this application, and repre hardened cup-bearings 8 and 9.v The said staff 7 also carries an inwardly extending arm 10 mounting a slotted plate 11, receiving the outer, end of the hair-spring 12 of themaster balance-wheel 13, the end of the sprlng being secured in the slot in the plate 11 by means of a wedge 14.

The trial-indicator 5 is bent rearward at a right angle from an arm or shank 15 staked upon a staff 16 having pointed pivot ends of which its pointed inner end bears in the bearing 9 before mentioned, while its pointed outer end bears in a cup-bearing 17 corresponding to the bearing 8. The said stafi' 16 mounts an inwardly extending arm 18 carrying a stud 19 formed with a notch 20 for the reception of the outer end of the hair-spring 21 of the balance-wheel 22 to be regulated, the said end of the spring 21 being frictionally held in the notch 20 by means of a gr1pping-spring 23 coiled at its upper end to form a finger-piece 24-. and having its opposite end coiled upon the staff 16 as at 25 to fasten it thereto.

of the indicators 4: and 5 for their com- 'parison.

For mounting the master balance-wheel 13 and the balance wheel 22 to be regulated, 'Iemploy, as herein shown, a rocking balance-wheel carrier comprising three corresponding sector- shaped plates 28, 29 and 30 secured together and spaced apart by pillars 31 of any approved construction.

The master balance-wheel 13 is mounted upon a staff 32 pointed at its ends and oscillating in a screw cup-bearing 33 mounted in the rear platef30 and in a double ended screw cup-bearing 34 mounted in the intermediate plate 29, while the balance-wheel 22 to 'be regulated is mounted upon a staff 35 pointed at itsends and oscillating in the forward end of the cup-bearing 34 aforesaid, and in a screw cup-bearing 36 mounted in the front plate 28, and having at its forward end a knurled button 37 by means of which the bearing 36 is turned in and out so pillar frictionally held in place in .A

frame-plates 38 and 39 secured together by pillars 40. For the purpose of 'rockingthe' said carrier between these plates, I employ a stud 41 provided at its rear end 'with'a threaded shank 42 entering the forward section of the two-part pillar 31, (Fig. 4) and at its forward end with a trunnion 43 passing forward through the frame-plate'38. The projecting forward end of the trunnion 43 mounts a pinion 44 meshed into by a segmental rack 45 turning'on a stud 46 in the said plate 38 and furnished withanoutwardly extending han'd-lever47. The rear member of t e two-part pillar 31 is formed with a bore 48 for the receptionof a trunnion 49 formed'upon a stud 50 fixed in the rear frame-plate 39. A helical spring 51 secured to the right hand pillar 31 of the rocking carrier andto the lower right hand 40 of the mainframe formed by the plates 38 and 39, provides for returningthe carrier to its upright positionin which it rests against suitable'bulfer 52 in which position the carrier is normally maintained by the tension of its said spring. i

In the use of my invention, the hairspring 12 of thejmaster balance-wheel 13is nicely adjusted so that the said wheel will have the correct number of oscillations per second for a clock or watch of theseries'ln which the balance-wheels to be regulated are to be used. p

Preparatory to the introduction into the device of a stock balance-wheel representing the balance-wheel units to be regulated, the screw cup-bearing 36 is unscrewed by its knurled button 37 so as'to widen the gap between its cupped inner end and the cupped forward end of the double-ended screw (:up-

bearing 34. The rear pivot of the Sta-E35 of the balancewheel unit to be adjusted, is

now inserted into the cuppedforward end of the double-ended cup-bearing 34 after which the screw 36 is turned homeso asto provide a bearingfor the forwardpivot of the staff 35 The free end'of the hair-spring 21 of the stockbalance wheel ilnitis then inserted into the notch 20 of the stud 19 and the said'notch the pressureof'the gripping-spring 23. The balance-wheels 13 and 22 are "now brought to absolute rest after which the hand-lever 47 'is smartly depressed, with the effect of rocking the rocking-carrier from right to left,"into the position show n by dotted'lmes in Fig. 1. Pressure being reas shown by broken upper edge-of the stud'19 to mark the point upright position. The described rocking of the carrier, sets thetwo balance-wheels cs cillating simultaneously, but this continues only for an instant, after which the balancewheel22. to be regulated will begin to oscillate slower or faster than the master balance-wheel. 13 according to the initialpositioning of the outer coil of its hair-spring 21 in thenotch 20*0f the stud 19. The workman now moves the outer coil of the hairspring 21 through the notch 20 in'one direction' or the other until theoscillation of the balance-wheel 22 wheel 13 as shown by the synchronous movement of the indicators 5 and '5. The

workman now brings the twobalance-wheels "to absolute rest, after which'he'will again rock the carrier so as toagaini eifect'the simultaneous oscillation of "the balancewheels the comparative oscillations of which will be immediately visualized in the relative movementof'the' indicators." He'now again l ts the hair-spring 21 :in' 'the 'notch20' until the indicators 5 and 5 move synchronously: This process is repeated until the two balance-wheels? are shown by the indicators to oscillate synchronouslyfor a predetermined number of beats say,'20by count. When this? occurstheend of -theouter coil of the hair-spring'21 is'bentover lines in Fig; 3, upon the at which the coil must: be held in the clock or watch movement :of the series to which it belongs. The screw cup bearing 36-'is then T unscrewed by-its knurledrbutton 37, permitting the now regulated balance-wheel unit to beremoved and replaced by another balance-wheel unit, and so on: r I claimr- 1;"In' a"dev1ce" for regulating balancewheels, the combination with a'rocking car- "r1er'mounting a the balance-wheel master balance-wheel? and cators mounted in thesaid 'carrier, respec- "tivelyf'connected with the 'outer'ends of the hair springs of "the said balance wheels and arranged in conjunction'with each other'for the comparison of their relative oscillatory movement;

"'2."In a device for regulating balancewheels, the combination with a rocking carrier mounting a master balance-wheel and the balance wheel to cator staffs'mounted in thecarrier foroscil- *l'ation therein, indicators carried by the respective shafts and located inopposition to each other, and means connecting the said shafts with'the outer ends of thehair-springs of the respective balance wheels,jwhereby the relative oscillation "of the said'whee'ls is visualized forcomparison. 1 i moved fromthe lever 47, thehelical spring w 51 immediately restores the carrier to its 3. In a devlce for regulating" balancesynchronizes perfectly with the oscillation of thema'ster balanceto be I adjusted, ":of indibe adjusted, of 'indiwheels,-the combination with'a 'rockin'g-carrier mounting a master balance-Wheel and the balance-wheel to be regulated, oscillatory indicator-staffs mounted in the said carrier, indicators carried by the respective staffs and arranged in opposition for the comparison of their movement, and means for connecting the outer ends of the hairsprings of the said wheels with the said shafts, the hair-spring of the balance-wheel to be regulated being adjustably connected with its'indicator staff.

4. In a device for regulating balancewheels, the combination with a rocking carrier mounting a master balance-Wheel and the balance-wheel to be regulated, oscillatory indicator-staffs mounted in the said carrier, indicators carried by the said stafls and arranged in opposition for the convenient comparison of their movement, connection between the outer end of the hairspring of the master balance-wheel with one of the said staffs, and connection between the hair-spring of'the balance wheel to be adjusted with the other stafi, the latter con.- nection including a notched stud receiving the end of the hair-spring of the said balance-wheel, and a gripping-spring for holding the hair-spring in position in the said notch.

5. In a device for regulating balancewheels, the combination with a rockingcarrier mounting the master balance-Wheel and the balance-wheel to be adjusted, of indicators respectively connected with and operated by the hair-springs of the said balance-wheels for the comparison of their relative movement, the said indicators being bent toward each other in the same plane so as to centralize the comparison. a

In testimony whereof, I have signed this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

WILSON E. PORTER. Witnesses:

CLARA L. WEED, GEORGE D. SEYMOUR.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G.

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